The Host, Part 2: Something Of The Host Remains
by devianttart
Summary: Daniel is forced to live his greatest nightmare. Part II of the story that began with RUN.
1. Chapter 1

_This is the second in a series. I started it with the Carter-centered fic **The Host, Part 1: Run**. This story will cover many of the same events but from Daniel's POV. I think they will read better if you read **Run** first, though it may not be strictly necessary._

_Enjoy and please review!

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Something Of The Host Remains

"There will be no escape for you." With those words, Apophis stole Daniel's last hope. Daniel was on his knees, held there by the Goa'uld leader and two Jaffa guards. The remaining SG1 members were restrained by the shackles that held their hands overhead. Fully charged staff blasters were aimed at everyone's head.

Daniel knew the truth. This was going to happen. Apophis was going to take Daniel as a host. The young scholar was going to be turned into the stuff of nightmares and there was not a damn thing anyone could do about it.

In his heart, Daniel started to say goodbye to his team. Sam, Jack, and Teal'c made up Daniel's family. Orphaned as a child, Daniel had found solace and unlimited love with Shar'e, but it was only during his time at Stargate Command that he had learned what it was to have a home.

Daniel met Jack's eyes. _"Please Jack,"_ Daniel tried to communicate, _"Please remember what you promised me."_

Jack seemed to understand what was going through his friend's mind. He exploded at Apophis, "Damn it, you snake-headed freak! Let him go! Use me! Take me!"

"Jack no!" Daniel yelled. He could not, he would not let another person he cared about to fall under the power of the Goa'uld. _"And I need to know that you will get me free," _Daniel thought to himself. _"Keep your promise!"_

Daniel remembered the night that he made Jack promise. It was after Shar'e. After the fiasco with Kiera. When Daniel realized he was safe to cry. When he finally realized that he had to cry or he would go mad. Jack had been there while Daniel grieved. He offered no advice, no platitudes. No "I told you so's" over Kiera. Rather, Jack had just listened. Jack's compassionate silence had given Daniel the freedom to open up about his deepest hurts and fears. His fear that he was responsible for Shar'e's imprisonment in the hell named Amaunet. That is was his fault she had died. He would never fully know what she had suffered.

"I know that when Shar'e was taken, I begged to be taken with her. But now, I know what the Goa'uld are, I know what they do! If I were ever taken," he said with difficulty, "I would go insane. I would be trapped in my body, doing terrible things, but I could never get free. It would destroy me, but I would never be able to die. I could hurt so many people." There was a long pause. "I dream about it. I dream that I am in a room and people are dressing me. I cannot see what they are putting on me. And then they take me to a mirror and I see my face - and I see my eyes glow. That's when I know, I am Apophis. I dream it...at least once a week." Daniel took a deep breath. "Jack, if that ever does happen...if a Goa'uld does take me...I need you to promise me that you will kill me if you have to but please don't leave me like that!"

Jack stared at Daniel, shocked, "No, Daniel. It'll never come to that. We'll never let it happen."

"Jack please!" Daniel pleaded. "I have to know! I wish I had the courage to...if Teal'c hadn't killed Shar'e she would still be trapped. Now she's free -her soul is free! If that ever happens to me I need to know I won't be left - that I won't be left alone and trapped! Please Jack!"

"Okay, Daniel," Jack responded. "I'll get you freed."

"Whatever it takes?" Daniel drove his point home.

Jack spent a long moment staring at his friend, "Yes, Daniel. Whatever it takes. I'll kill you myself if I have to but you won't be alone. You'll be free."

With the promise secure Daniel broke, sobbing for hours. He grieved for his lost love and the future they should have had. He mourned the boy he had been and the innocence he had lost when Shar'e was taken from him.

After that, things started to get a little easier. Healing was slow and painful, but he was getting by.

But now this was what it was all going to come down to. Daniel gave Jack a long look and slowly, minutely, shook his head. _"No Jack. You can't save me from this. Not yet. Just remember your promise."_

Apophis spoke from behind Daniel. "Good, Daniel Jackson. Be brave for your friends. Defeating you will surely be my greatest victory."

Daniel closed his eyes and waited. _"Please don't do this,"_ a small, scared voice pleaded in Daniel's head._ "I don't want this!"_ Daniel would not give the false god the satisfaction of hearing him beg, but his mind continued to pray...

The fangs of the Goa'uld symbiote tore into Daniel's neck. Instantly, poison began to gush through Daniel's brain and he screamed at the savage pain. He knew when the symbiote fully entered his neck. He could feel it chewing it's way through his central nervous system. Daniel's body began to thrash wildly breaking the Jaffas' hold on him in a futile attempt to escape this invasion, this conquest. He felt as though a black acid was destroying his mind, obliterating everything that was Daniel Jackson. In a desperate last attempt at salvation, Daniel threw himself down at the ground, slamming his head into the dias. His world went dark.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you for the reviews so far. Yes, I love angsty torturing of my favorite characters. _

_Please keep the comments coming.

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Previously:

In a last desperate attempt at salvation, Daniel threw himself down on to the ground, slamming his head onto the dias. His world went dark.

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"_Hot...oh god, why is it so hot?"_ Daniel's eyes flew open. He was surrounded by sand. The sky above him was a clear blue with the sun directly overhead. _"I'm in the desert?"_

"I brought you here, Daniel Jackson," Daniel spun around at the voice. Behind him was Apophis. Seeing him, Daniel remembered...kneeling on the floor, having the symbiote rip into his neck, feeling the destruction of his heart and his soul.

"This isn't real," Daniel stated. He became aware of a strange sensation in the back of his head as if spiders were walking on needles through his skull. "You're making me see this."

"Yes," the Goa'uld replied. "This is where _he_ came from. He gestured to his body. "He was a scribe, a scholar like yourself. He was very useful to me." Daniel felt the scratching in his brain. "Hmm...it seems that this land is familiar to you as well. Your mother, Claire, brought you here when you were very young, before she died."

"Get out. Get out of my head," Daniel was scared to realize that without any struggle Apophis was learning his secrets. "You have no right to do this!"

"Of course I do," Apophis replied. "I am your God. You have lost, Daniel Jackson. You do not have a say in this. He learned to obey. You will as well."

Daniel's mind was overrun with images. He saw himself, or was it Apophis, leading soldiers through a small village. Tents were burned, people were killed with staff blasts. Any resistance was met with brutal suppression. He slaughtered young Egyptian children, blood running through the sand. Then he was torturing a young, dark-skinned woman while she screamed for mercy in an ancient Egyptian tongue.

"Enough!" Daniel screamed. "I didn't do this! _He_ didn't do this! You did this. You murdered his wife and children and his whole damn town!"

"And I will do the same to you," Apophis replied.

Daniel's brain started to swirl. The tearing pain intensified to the point his vision started to gray.

When the swirling stopped, Daniel opened his eyes. With a start, he recognized the walls of the Gateroom in Stargate Command. Everywhere he looked he saw scorch marks from staff blasts. Dead soldiers were thick on the ground, spent shells strewn among them. The glass window to the computer room was shattered. Daniel could just make out Walter's body slumped on the console.

"This isn't real," Daniel whispered, denying the destruction that surrounded him.

Apophis came up beside him and smiled."But it will be. Look at all of the information you have already given me." The false god walked among the dead, naming them. "Siler. Colonel...Makepeace. Major Davis." With each name, Daniel felt the tearing. The pain was weakening him. "Ah, look Daniel Jackson, this one breathes still." Apophis bent over and lifted a battered Janet Fraiser by her neck. Seeing his friend struggle for life, Daniel tried to scream, yell, _something!_ but nothing came out.

Suddenly, he realized he was the one strangling Janet. He dangled her from his arm and sank his fingers into her neck. "Daniel, please, don't..." Janet tried to speak, but it was too late. He released her and her bodyjoined the others. Daniel heard a sound from the dead. Without hesitation he turned and fired his staff weapon. He had killed General Hammond. Daniel dropped the weapon.

"Stop this!" Daniel begged.

"We have only started, _Danny-boy_," the Goa'uld was wearing standard-issue SG blues. Daniel looked down and saw that his own body was now draped in the ostentatious Goa'uld finery.

"It is time Daniel. You will submit to me. You will keep nothing from me. I will make you obey me." Apophis advanced towards Daniel. The tearing and ripping in his mind intensified opening holes that the apophis-mind rushed to fill. Daniel was again overwhelmed with memories that were not his own. Daniel saw planets enslaved at Apophis's whim, subjects tortured for his amusement. He saw countless Jaffa prostrate themselves at his feet, believing him to be a god. He saw Teal'c swearing his loyalty and service as First Prime. He saw Shar'e, raped before her implantation, crying out to a husband who would never rescue her. Grief and terror swamped Daniel to the core of his being. He could take no more. He had to retreat within himself or go mad.

Apophis was victorious.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Previously:

Grief and terror swamped Daniel to the core of his being. He could take no more. He had to retreat within himself or go mad.

Apophis was victorious.

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_The daniel-mind was curled up and hidden. It existed somewhere that was nowhere. It tried not to be found but the apophis-mind was everywhere, destroying, absorbing, stripping away all that was once Daniel Jackson. But there were still secrets, truths that could not be revealed. The daniel-mind held on to these shreds. He hid them where they would not be found. _

Apophis was victorious. He knew that he owned this body now, as surely as he had once possessed the scribe. He was learning everything there was to know about the human once called Daniel Jackson. Apophis's former enemy was now his home. The Goa'uld felt a powerful rush at the thought of what he could now do. It was time that Teal'c paid for his crimes. Apophis could not imagine a better way to indoctrinate his new host.

Apophis flexed his hand. The body moved as he expected it to. He slowly stood, refusing help from his aides. Seeing the remaining SG1 members hanging from their bindings, Apophis smiled. Deliberately he emulated the slow, gentle smile of Daniel Jackson. He knew that, somewhere, the daniel-mind would see everything that was happening and could do nothing to prevent it.

Seeing her friend smile, Major Samantha Carter (_"Sam"_ the daniel-mind identified) gasped with relief as her eyes filled with tears. Colonel Jack O'Neill (_"Jack"_ the daniel-mind revealed) sagged in his chains. Only the shol'va Teal'c looked suspicious. Apophis almost started to laugh. After all, Teal'c knew Apophis in a way the others never would. It was time for Teal'c to remember who his God was.

Apophis let his eyes glow, "Bring me the shol'va, Teal'c."

_The daniel-mind became aware. It tried to fight. Crawling from it's hiding place, it tried to seep through the deathgrip of the apophis-mind. _

Teal'c was brought to the dais and forced to kneel at the feet of his former god. Apophis preened within his new body. He felt strong, young and powerful. It had been so long since he had taken a host, he had forgotten how intoxicating it could be.

Teal's manner was as smug and arrogant as Apophis remembered. Oh, how he wanted to punish this traitorous _bish'nok_! Apophis smiled broadly, "Too long I have waited to have you kneeling before me. Your betrayal shamed me. It hurt me. And now my time has come. Tell me, shol'va, how does it feel that it will be your old friend exacting my revenge on you?"

"You are not my friend," Apophis's former First Prime responded. "You are my friend's murderer. And it will not be your revenge!" Teal'c threw himself at Apophis, wrapping his hands around the new host's neck. Teal'c's fingers worked as if they were trying to reach in and rip the symbiote out.

Apophis tried to defend himself. He could see that he guards did not have a clear shot of his attacker. He tried to pry the shol'va's hands away, but...something...was not...working...This new body was not responding the way he needed it to.

The pain was too great...the need for air...Apophis fell to the ground. He did not see his enemy fall as well.

_Somewhere, that was nowhere, the daniel-mind paid for it's rebellion._

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

_Thanks again for the reviews. I am glad that you are enjoying it.

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Previously:

Apophis tried to defend himself. He could see that he guards did not have a clear shot of his attacker. He tried to pry the shol'va's hands away, but...something...was not...working...This new body was not responding the way he needed it to.

The pain was too great...the need for air...Apophis fell to the ground. He did not see his enemy fall as well.

_Somewhere, that was nowhere, the daniel-mind paid for it's rebellion.

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_**Interlude **_

Sounds trickled through.

"Thank god the Tok'ra…"

"…think he'll be okay?"

"Is he…I think he's waking up."

"Daniel, can you hear me?" Daniel could make out the voice of Janet Fraiser. He opened his eyes. All of SG1 was standing around his bed. Janet Fraiser and General Hammond were on the other side.

"Where am I?" Daniel asked.

Janet pulled out her penlight and started to examine his eyes. "Daniel, you're back at the SGC." He flinched away from her ministrations.

"Daniel," Sam said, taking his hand, "You're home. We got you out. Apophis is dead."

"No!" Daniel yelled, yanking his hand back. "You're not real. None of this is real." Daniel tried to struggle out of bed, but he became tangled up in IVs and monitoring wires. In his panic, he reached to rip out the I.V. needles. Teal'c's hand stopped him.

"DanielJackson, you will hurt yourself," he admonished, gently. "I assure you, Apophis is dead. I witnessed his death myself."

"Yeah, Daniel," Jack joined in. "Teal'c got the jump on Apophis – on you – whatever – knocked him out. Then he got a weapon from the guards, took them out and saved us. We got you and got gone. You don't remember any of that?"

Daniel looked warily at them. He just could not believe them. Not yet. "No. I sort of…remember…Teal'c…" Daniel closed his eyes against the onslaught of images he did remember, Apophis's crimes and atrocities. He gasped when he felt Jack take his face between his hands.

"Daniel, look at me. He's dead. You're free. I kept my promise."

Those were the words Daniel needed to hear. He held onto Jack's hands. "You kept your promise?"

"Yes, Daniel. I kept my promise."

"Oh god," Daniel took a deep shuddering breath and tried very hard not to cry. He started to believe them, he was home. "It's over?"

Jack started to smile. Without warning a blast fired from the infirmary's doorway. Jack stiffened and then fell over Daniel, dead. All eyes turned to see a figure standing there, aiming. The weapon fired again, again, again, and again. Daniel saw all of his friends fall to the ground. The murderer entered the room and Daniel recognized himself. Dressed in Apophis's clothes.

"I am not _dressed_ in Apophis's clothes. I _am _Apophis! Daniel Jackson is no more and never will be again. You interfered. This is your punishment. Interfere again and the punishments will get worse."

Pinioned by the weight of his friend and mute with frustrated grief, Daniel could only simmer in helpless rage. _"I am Daniel Jackson," _he told himself. _"I am Daniel Jackson. Nothing you will do will change that. I am still here and you will not get what you want from me!"_

His mirror image sneered. He knew what Daniel was thinking. "You are nothing. You exist nowhere. And I _will_ get what I want from you."

The walls around Daniel started to glow with a warm, white light. As the scene of carnage began to fade, Daniel realized, _"A sarcophagus, they have a sarcophagus. He will never die."_

Daniel Jackson existed nowhere.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

_Many thanks to those who have R&R'd! I really do appreciate it!

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_Special thanks to J.K. Rowling for giving me the scariest two-word sentence ever. Don't think of it as theft, think of it as a tribute!

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Previously:

The walls around Daniel started to glow with a warm, white light. As the scene of carnage began to fade, Daniel realized, _"A sarcophagus, they have a sarcophagus. He will never die."_

Daniel Jackson existed nowhere.

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The doors to the sarcophagus opened. Apophis sat up and surveyed his Jaffa and servants with a critical eye. His army was not up to the strength it had been before his "internment" with Sokar. However a lack of confidence was never a problem Apophis had. There would be more.

He stood and climbed out unaided. Once more he reveled in how _right_ it felt to possess this body. He had enjoyed the punishment he had inflicted on the daniel-mind. Apophis almost hoped for more rebellions. But, first, he had other matters to attend to.

Apophis looked with disgust at his SG1 fatigues. Imperiously, he commanded his servants "Robe me."

They scrambled to obey. They peeled off the tee shirt and pants, replacing it with their god's favorite robes.

Apophis turned to his First Prime, "Where is the shol'va?"

"Dead, my lord."

"What?" Apophis was furious. "How did it happen?"

"My lord, he was attacking you," the First Prime stumbled to explain. "As soon as there was a clear shot I fired to save you."

"That is what you have a zat'nik'tel weapon for! Dead he is useless to me." Fully dressed, Apophis stalked over to his dressing table where his servants had laid out his jewels for inspection. He glared into the mirror. _Fools,_ he thought. A dead shol'va could tell him nothing and could suffer no more for his crimes. Apophis's eyes glowed with rage. Reaching for his ribbon device he said, "You have angered me." Turning to his First Prime he continued, "Do not do that again." The weapon forced the Jaffa to his knees.

Apophis held him there for a few moments; savoring the exhilaration he received from this device. When he stopped the guard was barely able to keep from collapsing to the ground. Apophis turned away. The Jaffa would recover. They always did.

"Come," Apophis summoned his entourage. It was time to get his answers.

In the main room, Apophis saw that the shol'va's blood had dripped down the stairs. Jaffa hurried to clear away the body while others dragged the remaining SG1 team members to kneel at Apophis's feet. "That one died too soon," Apophis stated, watching his former First Prime's body be carried away. He turned the full measure of his displeasure onto Colonel O'Neill. "An early death is not what awaits you."

"Nice outfit," was O'Neill's only reply.

Apophis was delighted. "Oh good. The famous Jack O'Neill wit. Hmm, what can I do to prove to you that I am not joking?" Apophis focused inwardly for a moment. Feeling for the daniel-mind, he located it, hooked it, and threw it forward.

_Daniel felt as though he had been thrown through a glass wall. His vision was dim and the pain was immense. He saw that Jack and Sam were kneeling in front of him. _

"Jack? Sam?"_ A savage ripping through his mind drove him screaming to his knees. But he had to tell – he had to remind Jack – _"Jack! Please – don't – let -"

The Apophis-mind punched through. "Enough!" he stood. "I have your friend. His suffering continues. If you tell me what I want to know, _maybe_ I will stop hurting him. What is the self-destruct code to your Stargate Command?"

_Unnoticed by the arrogant Goa'uld, the daniel-mind had not been fully banished. A small sliver, barely a thought, remained... waiting…_

Apophis's guard had Samantha Carter by the hair, blade to her throat. Apophis needed to know where Shifu was! How dare these humans stand between him and his creation?

O'Neill just laughed. "You mean you don't know? You're the one in the head. I figured you would just dig around until you got your answers. Or – wait – did Daniel put up more of a fight than you were expecting? Did you underestimate the weak little human? Yep, Danny-boy's a sly one. Sorry, not-so-omnipotent one, I have no idea where Sha're's child is."

Apophis was enraged. He knew that the location of _his_ child was one of the secrets that the daniel-mind had managed to protect. So far. He gestured for the Jaffa to tighten his hold on the woman.

O'Neill still refused to give. "Oh come on. You think I believe you're just gonna' kill her? You got pissed at your First Prime for taking Teal'c out of the picture too fast. I think you wanna' have some fun first."

Apophis did not know what to do. He had consumed enough of Daniel Jackson's memories to know that Jack O'Neill would not talk. However...he also knew how hard it was to resist the burn of the ribbon device. "You are right, _Jack_. If the pain of your friends will not make you talk, let us see what you will do when it is your own pain." The ribbon sliced into the Colonel forehead.

_The daniel-mind struck forward. It tried to prevent Apophis from focusing on the ribbon-device but it was so hard…there was so little left of Daniel Jackson…but every thing that was struggled… _

The ribbon faltered. The beam splintered and finally stopped. Apophis was stunned. He had felt the battle that the daniel-mind had put up. It had _hurt_ him. Apophis wasted precious time swearing revenge on the remnants of Daniel Jackson. He was unprepared for what happened next.

Colonel O'Neill sprang to his feet. Grabbing the nearest staff weapon, he killed the guard and palmed a knife. Swiftly, he threw himself at Apophis and buried the knife to its hilt into the Goa'uld throat.

Apophis was in pain. _But, I am a God!_ he tried to say. _You are nothing!_ He saw his enemy fall amidst a shower a staff blasters. Apophis felt as though he were drowning. He could feel blood pour down his throat…from his mouth…it was too much. The Apophis-mind had to retreat…

_The daniel-mind saw its friend on the ground. Even while it grieved, it rejoiced. Thank you Jack, the daniel-mind thought. I'm free…_

_**Epilogue**_

_Again, he woke in the infirmary…_

_Again, he did not believe…_

_Again, they made him hope…_

_Again, they all died…_

_Again, the walls started to glow…_

_Somewhere…nowhere…Daniel Jackson wept._

The end.

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The story will conclude with **The Host, Part III: Promises.**


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